SMILIN’: You’ve heard a lot about newly minted ESPN2 anchor Keith Olbermann — but not so much about “Devious Maids” (right). Photo:

Keith Olbermann

SMILIN’: You’ve heard a lot about newly minted ESPN2 anchor Keith Olbermann (inset) — but not so much about “Devious Maids”. (
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Back in the day, Esquire magazine would run its annual “Dubious Achievement Awards” — which always featured a photo of a young Richard Nixon, smiling broadly, with the caption: “Why Is This Man Laughing?”

I thought about that last week when ESPN announced it had (re-)hired Keith Olbermann, its onetime “SportsCenter” anchor, to host a daily show on ESPN2.

Somewhere, he’s laughing.

A lot.

I don’t know Keith personally, and I’ve never worked alongside him — but his bridge-burning employment record has been industry fodder for years, which makes you wonder why ESPN — the very first bridge he burned in 1997 — would welcome him back with open arms. (Yes, it’s ESPN2, but still . . . )

Virtually all of Olbermann’s employment stops have ended badly, including two stints at MSNBC — the first one crashing after only a year (1998) when he griped endlessly about having to cover the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky saga on his nightly news show.

Sandwiched in between was a stormy four years at Fox Sports Net, followed by Olbermann’s second go-’round at MSNBC hosting “Countdown” (2003-2011) — which ended when he was suspended for violating network policy by making campaign contributions without MSNBC’s permission.

That, in turn, was followed by a nine-month stint at Current TV, which . . . follow the bouncing ball . . . ended disastrously, when Olbermann was fired, then sued — and was counter-sued by network chiefs Al Gore and Joel Hyatt.

ABC passed on the series, so it ended up on cable. (ABC, not coincidentally, owns 50 percent of Lifetime; A&E owns the other half.)

If you haven’t heard much about “Devious Maids” since its June 23 premiere, that’s because it’s not a breakout hit.

“Maids” has averaged 2.2 million viewers through four original episodes — not terrific, but not disastrous, either.

Lifetime officials stressed to me that last Sunday’s episode was up 10 percent in viewers over the show’s premiere, and that it also showed moderate gains in adults 18-49 and 25-54 from its June 23 bow — and that it topped all shows in basic cable in its timeslot (10 p.m.) in women viewers.

Still, I’d give it a meh, so far. I watched the first episode last month and didn’t feel the need to go rushing back — and, apparently, others share that opinion.

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One more thought about last week’s Emmy nominations: Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. Again. Really?